Friday

The 121st annual running of the Boston Marathon kicks off in Hopkinton on Monday, and we hope everyone knows at least a little bit of the race's storied history.

Inspired by the Olympic Marathon in Greece in 1896, John Graham, inaugural U.S. Olympic team manager and a member of the Boston Athletic Association, wanted to organize a similar race in the Boston area. With the help of Boston businessman Herbert Holton, various routes were considered before a measured distance of 24.5 miles from Ashland to Boston was selected.

On April 19, 1897, John J. McDermott of New York emerged from a 15-member starting field and captured the first Boston Athletic Association Marathon in 2:55:10.

In 1924, the course was lengthened to 26 miles, 385 yards to conform to the Olympic standard, and the starting line was moved west from Ashland to Hopkinton. Winners of recent races have finished about 45 minutes faster than the first champion.

Here are some other statistics about the race, as compiled by WalletHub, a personal finance website:

• $201 million is the estimated economic impact of the 2018 Boston Marathon.

• $297 million has been raised for Boston Marathon charities since 1986.

• 2,600 calories are burned in the average marathon, a bit more than in a 14-inch cheese pizza.

• 5,062 qualified marathon applicants were rejected because the field is capped at 30,000.

• 50-plus crashers manage to run the entire Boston Marathon each year.

Fix potholes or pay for costly car damage

We've all had a similar experience. You're driving along a major roadway on Cape Cod, it's raining, and it is impossible to see the potholes, now filled with rainwater. Then comes the “bam.” You just found the hidden pothole.

Some of them look more like craters, and if they are deep enough, you can often hear the sound of metal or plastic — the undercarriage of your car — scraping the road. Sometimes the damage is worse. Flat tires or bubbles in sidewalls, cracked or bent rims. The lucky ones are those who experience a jolt and a bang without damage.

We’re not just talking about potholes on town roads here. They’re bad enough this time of year. What we’re also talking about involves terrible highway conditions encountered at highway speeds on and off the Cape.

Certainly, a confluence of factors such as weather and traffic is affecting matters. And this winter has brought brutal single-digit temps to a high of 71 in February no less. March saw a succession of above-freezing days, but also a succession of nor’easters.

Despite $3.3 billion spent on roadway construction since January 2015, it’s not enough. Should we raise the 24-cent per gallon gas tax to get our roads in good shape? Perhaps a tax on miles driven rather than gallons purchased would help. Otherwise, cities and towns are going to be held liable for major car damage caused by neglected roads. Boston has already paid out thousands of dollars to car owners.

Don't hesitate: Euthanize Zeus

Here we go again. Another pit bull attack, this time in Hyannis.

Zeus, the pit bull, attacked a 22-year-old Hyannis man just one day after being brought into a new household. The man suffered bite wounds on both forearms and was brought to Cape Cod Hospital.

When officers arrived at the scene, the dog was still behaving aggressively — initially preventing access to the victim.

Barnstable Animal Control placed Zeus under a 10-day quarantine, in which the dog is living with his original owner and is not permitted to go outside. Unfortunately, Zeus’ original owner now plans to keep the dog and have him neutered.

But Barnstable, at the very least, should hold a dangerous dog hearing. We hope the dog is put down before he bites someone else.

After all, remember what happened to Sienna Bryden, the PetSmart store groomer who was the second human victim of Bubba, a pit bull or pit bull mix last year. The first victim was Elizabeth Hiatt, 62, of Forestdale, who was attacked by Bubba on Sept. 5. Bryden was mauled on Dec. 27. Bubba was euthanized Dec. 28, the day after the second attack.

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